I've bashed Webster a few times this year, so I think it only proper that I start a thread about his play in tonight's game. He not only hit some big threes, he made three clutch free throws to ice the game. Kobe Bryant, the superstar? He missed two consecutive free throws in crunch time. My hats off to Webster for hanging in there, keeping his chin up, and playing well for us tonight. Most of the time he plays like utter crap, but tonight he actually resembled an NBA player. Thank you Martell, for helping secure one of the biggest games of the year against the hated Lakers!!!
I agree that Martell, albeit with a couple of lapses, played well and was instrumental in beating the Lackers today. I disagree that he plays 'like utter crap' 'most of the time.' While Martell's shot tends to be either hit or miss badly, there is more to the game than shooting jumpers, and I think Martell is a pretty decent player for us. Not exactly CP3, but oh, well.
His defense has been his best attribute this year. Offensively he seems to have hot or cold streaks. With Roy out hopefully he can start a hot one and keep it going into the playoffs.
I was about to get on board with this thread because he did play a pretty good game, but that last sequence when he bear-hugged Kobe with 6 seconds left on the clock, when we didn't have a foul to give, practically knocked me out of my chair when a shock wave of stupidity surged out of my TV. I'm glad he redeemed himself by nailing his three free throws, but he doesn't deserve too much praise in my opinion.
Yeah, there was that. I'm trying to forget it, and praise him for the clutch free throws. However, I agree. That play and the foul by Miller were both stupid. In all honesty, we tried to give this game to the Lakers, but they wouldn't take it.
Never thought I'd use the term "clutch" and "Webster" in the same sentence, but those were some pretty clutch free throws. And generally pretty solid defense. On the flip side, the foul he committed on Kobe was idiotic, and I had absolutely no confidence at all in whatever the hell he planned on doing with that drive at the end of the game. Honestly, if the Lakers don't foul him (WTF was that about?) I really don't see him scoring on that play. No game-winning plan should ever involve Webster creating for himself off the dribble at the top of the key against Kobe Bryant. I think he took it on himself because of his massive fuck up on the other end. I guess the Lakers were so stunned at him executing such a bad idea, they fouled. Webster hits his free throws, we won the game, so all is forgiven. But really, other than hitting clutch free throws, I didn't leave that game with much more confidence in Webster than I had coming into the game.
Yea great game, even with all the weirdness at the end. He could have easily been the goat on that foul on Kobe. But fate said otherwise!
Yeah, Webster strikes me exactly the opposite of how I used to describe Josh Childress, in terms of awareness and on-court smarts: with Childress, you get the sense that you don't have to worry about what he'll do...he's going to make the right decisions and plays. Webster I worry about all the time when he's on the court, that he'll get flustered or zone out and do something silly. Obviously, you want as much talent as possible...but it's also nice to know that that talent will always be deployed in the right direction, not sabotaged by silly mistakes. Webster has value, as a defensive reserve who can knock down a shot at times. He's also the guy most likely to make an avoidable mistake. That's a bit concerning.
Luckily there's a game tonight so this love affair with Martell will end tonight once he sucks again.... I kid! I hope I'm wrong!
I tend to agree, but I will point out that it seems mistakes like the ones he makes can be ones he learns to avoid... he will never be Scottie Pippen or Magic Johnson in terms of court awareness, but assuming he's serious about the game and he applies himself, it seems he can improve. Batum seems to have a superior (and, based on his youth, innate) awareness, and Outlaw seems beyond retribution on that front. Hopefully Webster ends up closer to Batum than Outlaw when he becomes a mature player. Ed O.
Martell made one of the dumbest fouls in NBA history last night because he wasn't paying attention in the huddle. Congrats Martell, you got bailed out on a stupid running 3 pointer with a lot of time on the clock that made you some sort of silly folk hero for some Blazer fans.
This thread turned quite humorous to me. Especially since, if Travis Outlaw had pulled off everything Webster did from the moment Roy went out until the game-winning 3 FTs, there'd be so much jock-sniffing that it'd be borderline inappropriate for children. Webster made a brain fart that was on par with what, among others, Miller, Blake, Roy, Outlaw and Sergio have made in the last 2 years. Fortunately, he also made the game-winning FTs and played pretty hellacious D on K*be for 25 minutes so that we WON instead of losing, unlike the other examples. But maybe I'm just too prone to give a guy who led us to a win over the L*kers in LA by stepping into the role of our injured star player a pass.
